Q: When I Read About Wimbledon, I Keep Seeing References To The Signature `Clotted Cream' With Strawberries. Clotted Cream Sounds Like Something You'd Find In The Back Of A Cat Lady's Fridge. Is It, Or Does It Just Have A Terrible Name?

CURIOUS EPICURE

June 27, 2002|By KYRIE O'CONNOR

A: It probably helps to be a Brit to get misty-eyed over Devonshire or Cornish clotted cream. (Or it helps you get a black eye claiming Cornish or Devonshire is the more authentic.) The condiment itself is a thickened, sweetish, high-butterfat dairy product that is supposed to be a terrific counterpoint to sweet, tart berries.

Clotted cream can be used the way Americans use whipped cream, but it is thicker and richer than whipped cream. It is also used on scones or English muffins (jam first, cream on top, the Cornish say -- the reverse in Devonshire) and other such delights.

You can get commercial clotted cream through various Internet sources such as www.britishdelights.com, or you can chance your local imported-foods emporium, but perhaps you're obsessive or experimental enough to try to make it yourself.

First, find a cow. Preferably a Jersey. This is not exactly a joke; most of the classic references telling how to create clotted cream advise using very high butterfat, unpasteurized milk, and the more recently it has been in the cow, the better. If you're low on lowing cattle in your 'hood, some non-purists suggest that you can experiment with mixing cream and whole milk to get the key 55 percent butterfat content. (More cheater recipes to follow.)

But first, the real way: Allow the unpasteurized milk to rest for about 12 hours until the cream separates from the milk. Skim off the cream. In a pan over very, very low heat -- no, really, the lower the better -- let the cream heat ultra-slowly until the surface begins to wrinkle. This should take about an hour, but the longer the better. Under no circumstances let it boil. Remove from heat, and leave in a cool spot overnight. Spoon off the top layer, the clotted cream, in the morning.

Alternatively, try one quart of unhomogenized milk with one pint of cream, not the ultra-pasteurized kind. (Look for both at a natural-foods store.) Pour both, without mixing, into a big frying pan. Heat super-slowly at about 140 degrees for two or three hours, until a slight yellowish crust forms. Carefully move the pan into the fridge for overnight. In the morning, skim off the clotted cream with a spatula.

Here are a couple of quicker, less-authentic substitutes:

Some sources suggest you can whip one cup of heavy cream into soft peaks. Then whisk in 1/3 cup sour cream and 1 tbsp. sugar. Voila, sort of.